A field jacket and medals for a World War II vet

A World War II U.S. Army veteran who survived D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge received a life membership and a vintage field jacket from the Parkesburg VFW on Sunday.

Retired Technician Cpl. Edwin Messner, 89, of Coatesville served in the U.S. Army from 1943 through 1945. He was attached with the First Army Headquarters and served as a truck driver for the 3712 Quartermaster Truck Company. In his capacity as an Army officer, he drove the vehicle that carried General George Patton’s secret maps and papers throughout Europe.

At a ceremony at the VFW club room, his friends and family applauded as Messner greeted them from his wheelchair at the front of the room.

Club Commander Robert McMinn announced some of the veteran’s awards Messner earned, including a Good Conduct Medal, The European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with five Bronze Stars, a Bronze Service Arrowhead, a World War II Victory Medal, an Honorable Service Pin, an American Campaign Medal, a Marksmanship Award and the Liberty Medal of France.

McMinn also gave Messner a plaque signifying a Parkesburg VFW 4480 lifetime free membership for him.

But probably the most striking aspect of the ceremony was the presentation of the field jacket, which retired Army Tech Sgt. Vincent Santucci had tracked down and obtained to present to Messner.

Santucci is interested in the uniforms and paraphernalia of military history, and he said he goes online to track down real remnants of the wars, including garments, ribbons and medals.

Santucci helped Messner put the jacket on after he had made the presentation.

On hand at the ceremony were Messner’s brother, Criss Messner, 81, and his sister, Nancy Mattison, 68, of East Caln. Mattison said her brother was away in the war so long that when he came home he didn’t know he had a baby sister – her.

She said Edwin’s family had recently made some inquiries to the VFW about her brother’s awards and war experiences, and among the members of the group and the family, they decided on the ceremony and the life membership.

Nancy said Edwin had “a whole pile of medal,” which Santucci sorted out and attached to the jacket that he tracked down. For Santucci’s part, he said he found out Edwin’s size and pursued a jacket that he assumed would fit.

Messner, looking proud in his new jacket, was nonetheless modest and quiet. He said after he got out of the Army, he became a driver for Davis Oil – and quite a good one at that, as he was employed for 55 years until his retirement at age 76.

When asked if some of his friends had died at the D-Day landing in Normandy in 1944, he said, “Oh, yes.”

Actually, he lost lots of friends and endured unspeakable discomfort, sadness and danger while surviving the invasion of Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge in Germany in the winter of 1944.

While he didn’t talk about it at the ceremony, he has recorded his memoirs in a document he calls, “My Story.”

In it he talks about being away from home for two years and crossing the Atlantic on the Queen Mary while German submarines lurked below.

Once, while he was in England waiting to invade France, he met the future Queen Elizabeth at a USO and danced with her.

On the morning of the invasion of Normandy, he wrote about riding a truck off the ship and witnessing mass deaths, not only with soldiers but with farmers’ livestock on the shore. “We had been fishing out the dead bodies from the sea with hooks. These were the bodies of men who had been on the landing crafts that were sunk.”

In a later passage, Messner wrote: “It was hot for June and the dead bodies began to swell and explode. You can’t imagine what this smell and sight was like,” he wrote.

The misery didn’t end, however. Winter came and he slept outside underneath his truck with his gunner. “The Germans were known to take uniforms off dead soldiers and put them on. They were smart and would go right in with us until they were found out,” he wrote.

And he had to pick up dead bodies and haul them in his truck: “It was very cold so the bodies froze solid. You would see their arms and hands sticking out of the snow,” he wrote.

Messner was brought to the ceremony by his caretaker, Bob McGonigle. Although he is alert and has stories to tell he has some problems getting around because of recurring infections in his foot.